World exclusive - Piers Morgan is being controversial again. Oh wait, that is always expected.

But this time it would seem that some people are in agreement with Morgan when he slammed people 'hero worshipping' the England squad following their defeat in the semi-final stage.

Advert

The Three Lions lost against Croatia last night, but everyone has been honouring the LADs and their manager Gareth Southgate, praising them for rebuilding a sense of pride, hope and belief in the national side.

Nowt wrong with that, is there? Unless you're Piers, of course.

The ITV presenter spoke about the reaction on Good Morning Britain, saying: "Headlines this morning are a little bit, to me, OTT. Heroes are those British cave divers who took those kids out.

Piers Morgan. Credit: PA

Advert

"You win the World Cup, you're a hero - right. But I think coming third or fourth, what I would say is England massively exceeded very low expectations.

"A young, inexperienced team did much better than we thought they would but they lost."

He then added: "I don't think you would hear the England team call themselves heroes."

Piers and Susanna. Credit: PA

Piers' co-host on the show, Susanna Reid, hit back by saying: "The boys are heroes because they united the country - they inspired joy and and optimism."

The Mirror reported that Susanna claimed that waist-coat wearing manager Southgate had done more to unite the country than Prime Minister Theresa May, who is currently attempting to quell infighting among her fellow Tories as Brexit proposals struggle on.

One person who certainly agreed with Morgan was Toby Gilles, who appeared on Good Morning Britain to put his point forward that England aren't heroes for losing.

He said: "We've just seen a load of people rescue some kids in a cave, two and a half miles underground, risking their lives - are we seriously calling a bunch of footballers who, we've got to put it into perspective, they beat Tunisia with a 90th minute goal.

"They beat Panama who are one of the worst teams I've ever seen in a World Cup, they just about beat Colombia who were short of their best player, they beat Sweden who were pretty average and they lost to a team that was about their equal."

And it seems others agree with the pair, with one social media user saying: "Heroes are my Dad who fought for our country in WW2 and all the service men and women that were there with him in that war and WW2.

"They are only a group of talented footballers, nothing else, who did their best - and may I say got handsomely paid for doing so."

England's footballers are not 'heroes'. They've restored some pride to the team & unified the country with their conduct on & off the pitch. But there was nothing 'heroic' about last night's defeat. The cave divers who risked their lives to rescue those Thai kids are heroes.- Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) July 12, 2018

But many have stuck to their guns and disagreed with Piers, with one person adding: "Whether you are a football supporter or not those boys did us proud.

"They were written off before the tournament even started. To get to the semi final is an achievement."

Of course, just last night Piers was tweeting about the team having the potential to be heroes:

Southgate very animated in that team talk. This is where heroes get made. Come on England. :punch::punch:- Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) July 11, 2018

And finally, this comment came from someone who seems to be very much on the fence: "What's a hero to one person isn't necessarily a hero to another. Let's not generalise. To a small child, wannabe footballer, right now the team will be his heroes.

"They are heroes in a different way. Now if you're talking bravery, that's a whole different matter."

Can't we just agree that all these people are heroes, in one way or another?

Rebecca Shepherd

I'm Becky - a journalist at LADbible. I graduated with a First Class BA in Journalism before going on to cover criminal court cases, medical tribunals and breaking news for the national media - which inevitably and eventually became as glum as it sounds.
Can often be found rocking a bag for life - which I made a 'thing' way before Rihanna.
You can contact me at [email protected]